Nature’s role in expressing sorrow and joy in Kobayashi Issa’s Haiku

Abstract

Kobayashi Issa (1763–1828) is celebrated as one of the great haiku masters alongside Matsuo Bash¯o and Yosa Buson. Issa’s poetry uniquely combines profound empathy for small creatures with deeply personal reflections on joy and sorrow. This study explores how Issa employs nature as a medium to convey emotional states, focusing on the interplay of wabi-sabi and mono no aware aesthetics. Using qualitative textual analysis, several of Issa’s haiku were examined to identify patterns in his depiction of impermanence and compassion. The results show that Issa’s use of seasonal imagery, insects, and everyday natural elements serves as an emotional vocabulary, translating grief and happiness into universally resonant forms. His Buddhist beliefs and personal tragedies shaped this sensitivity, allowing him to balance sorrow with gentle humour and appreciation of life’s fleeting moments. The findings highlight Issa’s distinct voice compared to Bash¯o’s spiritual austerity and Buson’s artistic refinement, positioning him as a humanist poet grounded in everyday experience. This research contributes to understanding Japanese aesthetics in haiku and the emotional function of nature in literary expression.